Guardiola Calling for Fans Support for Barca's Second Leg Clash Against Milan

byDavidonMarch 29, 2012

Barcelona’s coach, Josep Guardiola, wasn’t all disappointed with the draw against Ac Milan, but he rues their failure to score an away goal as the 0-0 draw will put the second leg becomes even more complicated.

Acknowledging that fact, aside from preparing his squad for the second meeting, Guardiola also hopes that their fans can show up and give a massive support to the Catalan squad at Nou Camp, as that could lift the players spirit even more.

“Our fans cannot let us down on Tuesday. They need to come to the stadium and carry us to the semi-finals. These players have done too much to be abandoned. This Tuesday we have a final in our stadium with our people. We need the Camp Nou to be full. We have a chance to go through and between us all I believe it’s possible,” Guardiola said.

Remembering their match up in the group stage, Milan were able to steal a 2-2 draw at Nou Camp a situation which if happened again will obviously sent the Catalan packing as the Rossoneri would be leading on away goals. This is once again why Guardiola urged his fans to become Barca’s 12th player, intimidating the Italian champion and also pushing their own players forward, as the tactician warned that the second leg might not be a pretty encounter as well.

Guardiola stated that Milan have lots of talent and quality defensive play, one slip up in the back might really trouble them in the second meeting, a situation which almost occurred couple of times on Wednesday. The Spaniard must also make themselves as calm as possible and simply not getting their favorite label tag as something that pressures them into acting clumsy at home, going forward without thinking about balance.

“We know that it will be a terrible match. Milan have very talented players and they they defend well. This is why our fans need to cheer us on more than ever. We only have one option, and that’s to win – between all of us we won’t fail,” Guardiola stated.

The tactician didn’t really make any complain about refereeing decision, despite some of Barcelona players were expecting to get a penalty after Alexis Sanchez appeared to be fouled in the penalty area by Christian Abbiati. However, Guardiola admitted that the pitch condition wasn’t at its best and simply troubling his side on the game, a pretty unique statement considering Barca did actually won their earlier meeting against Milan at San Siro.

“Everything is difficult. We’ve won a lot of things, we’ve drawn and we’ve lost. In the latter two we’ve never talked about the referees. To be Champions of Europe again we must do an even better job,” Guardiola added. “It is always a pleasure to play at San Siro. It’s just a shame that this pitch is not suited to a football match. Inter and Milan both deserve a better playing surface.”